Year in Review: Iwamura is 31 and has a declining ISO (.126 to .100) despite an increasing fly-ball rate (33.7% to 35.6%). His HR/FB rate has gone from terrible (5.5%) to legendarily poor (1.5%) in the meantime. His lifetime stolen-base success rate (65.9%) is too borderline to predict any more stolen bases in his future. His BABIP (.355) would at first suggest that even his mediocre batting average (.290 last year) could be on its way down. So what's there to like, again? Well, he walks a decent amount (10% career), doesn't strike out too much (21.4%), and he's a scratch fielder (+1.4 UZR/150 at 3B). Even his BABIP isn't really worrisome, since he has a similar lifetime number (.349). It all adds up to a decent real-life package, especially when paired with a reasonable real-life contract.

The Year Ahead: Though he was known as the “Gun” in Japan, Iwamura has shown little-to-no power in America, and he's more of an opportunistic base stealer than a real threat on the base paths. That makes him much less interesting in the fantasy game, where he's really best used as an injury replacement or a late-round middle infielder at best. In most leagues, you'll want more than 15 combined home runs and stolen bases out of your second or third baseman, no matter how cheap he comes. The most optimistic projections only have him hitting six home runs and stealing 12 bases to go with his decent batting average. Unless you're a deep-league manager, that's a pass, especially since he'll be scoring fewer runs on his new team. (Eno Sarris)